In this week's issue of The New Yorker, I have a review of David Lang's love fail and Michael Gordon's Timber, both at BAM. The video above, filmed at a hardware store in Alexandria VA, comes from the folks at NPR. Helpful souls at Cantaloupe Music allowed me to preview upcoming recordings of Julia Wolfe's Steel Hammer, Gordon's Rushes (for bassoon septet), and the collective Bang on a Can work Shelter. I also worked in a mention of New Amsterdam Records, which, as most readers will know, was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy; see Steve Smith's important account of a recent benefit concert in Chicago.